Roman pilgrimage

It may be many years since I was last in Rome, yet it is among a handful of Italian cities I remember with great affection.

The Coliseum is of course the landmark that stands apart as the most famous of Italy’s classical heritage and even today it is the most impressive monument from 2,000 years ago you are likely to encounter.

My first visit gave me little more than a tourists’ view from a car, but later I was to return on many occasions, and the huge amphitheatre, although little more than a ruin will still catch your breath. Serious money has been spent on its renovation, but no more than keeping it intact as a monument to a world long forgotten.

The historians reckon that in its time all those many years ago it could accommodate 70,000 Romans. What I remember from only a few years ago was the number of wild cats living in the ruins.

Today, I remind myself of the sheer size and enormity of its construction, and can only ponder on how such a task was ever accomplished.

This wall sized photograph is my near daily reminder of those visits to Rome, and is to be found in my favourite coffee stop, Arrosto di Caffe just outside Southampton, and where Italian espresso comes just to my liking.

But it stirs the imagination as well and although the temperature in Rome may have been ten degrees higher today than in Totton, I can take comfort in that it was raining there just as it was at home.